Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Sandwich Generation Celebrates Mothers Day

What is a Sandwich Generation? According to Merriam-Webster, it is a generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children .

Even though both my parents and my mother-in-law do not live with us nor live close to us, I consider myself an active part of the Sandwich Generation. This Mothers Day, I am a mother to my kids; and yet I am also a child, a daughter of my Mom. However, instead of my mom taking care of me, it's me "taking care" of her, while I take care of my kids.

On one hand, it's not a big deal. This should be a natural thing. I take care of my mom and when I am old, my daughter will take care of me. But life in this 22nd century is different than before. Ironically, even with all the high tech gadgets we have to help us in our daily living (like washing machines as opposed to washing clothes by hands), we are still almost always busy. Busy. Busy.

And so sometimes our elder parents feel like they are a burden to us. Yes, sometimes it's a struggle for a sandwich generation person so balance things out. But our parents are never a burden. They should not feel as such and should not be looked at as such.

The other day my husband asked me what I want to do on Mothers Day. My initial thought was "sleep". Then maybe eat lunch out with my family (hubby and kids). But then again, I feel like I should do something for the Senior Moms, especially those whose loved ones are so far away from them (just as we are far away from our parents). Therefore, on Sunday, I will go with Claire to the Senior Center and will bring leis or cupcakes to some senior moms there who attends the Bible Study Claire leads. I can only wish and pray that as I minister to these seniors there, others close to where our moms are would do the same to them.